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Change the position of folders in sort by Kind views
Authored by: cynikal on Sep 24, '04 12:50:12PM

speaking of finder quirks.. does it bother anyone else that when you open the finder in list mode (cmd+2), it will use the same default heading choices/widths every time, with the filename, date, and then size..

i care more about the size of files than the date, so everytime i work with a new folder, i always need to manually move the size field before the date field.. and i can't seem to figure out a way to default the finder list view to put the date before date (and subsequently, get rid of the date field altogether).

and while i'm at it, why can't the finder make the width of the size field automatically fit the file sizes in the folder by default? I regularly work with files with sizes in the order of hundreds, and i ALWAYS have to resize the size field with newly created folders to make the entire size fit.. otherwise it will say "69.. MB".. is it that dificult/imposible to make it automaitcally size it so i can fit the entire 696.3 MB ??



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Change the position of folders in sort by Kind views
Authored by: theocrates on Sep 24, '04 02:37:23PM

There is always a way in Mac OS X--that is, if you have a will.

Getting the Finder to display the window info (i.e., Name, Size, Version, etc) in the order you want was brought up a while back in the hint entitled "Change the default list-view column order". (Do a MacOSXHints search for that article name to find it.) I believe you can also set the default column widths as well by putting a different number between the <integer> tags.

You'll have to edit the Finder's PLIST file, but, believe me, it's not that difficult at all. Just open the file in TextEdit and cut and paste the <dict> tags in the order you want them. Don't be afraid; just follow the pattern and you'll be fine.

Remember to make a backup of the original PLIST file first, in case you muck up the one you're editing.



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Change the position of folders in sort by Kind views
Authored by: zane on Sep 26, '04 09:03:28PM
The hint mentioned above is here:

Change the default list-view column order

...and it's quite a handy little hint. After playing around with it, I was wondering if anyone can advise me on a slightly related topic. No matter what I try, I can't get the "Calculate All Sizes" global property to remain checked. I rely of my list-view's "size" column a lot for calculating folder sizes, and have to check this option for each and every new window, despite having already set it under Global View Option about 50 zillion times.

Is there anywhere in the com.apple.finder.plist file that I can modify to set this property to true, permanently, once and for all?

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Change the position of folders in sort by Kind views
Authored by: theocrates on Sep 29, '04 09:34:09PM

Zane:

You know, I've had the same irritation with the Calculate Folder Sizes and other window preferences. It's like the Finder always defaults to the factory setting for certain preferences.

My understanding of the Finder (both in Classic and OS X), from what I have found out on my own and from what I have read, has unfortunately led me to believe that each window's preferences are more or less set individually; and only windows opened from the original window whose preferences were set will display what you have checked.

Anyway, I do not know of any way to make the preference stick permanently. But at least you have company in this one, minor annoyance!



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Change the position of folders in sort by Kind views
Authored by: 01smithp on Sep 27, '04 08:00:01AM

You can change the default position of the column in the Finder by editing the com.apple.finder file in your (home) preferences folder (I use Property List Editor from the dev tools). The stuff to change is located under 'StandardViewOptions' > 'Nlsv' > 'Columns' > [items in order by number]. Just copy and paste the names and stuff around to change their order.
If you don't know what some of the names mean just refer to an open finder window.



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